Bubbles and Concussions
by native portlandian
Summary: If anyone ever asked Raven who her least favorite villain to fight was, she would answer "Plasmus" without a second thought. Oneshot.


Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans. I just put them in awkward situations.

…

If anyone ever asked Raven who her least favorite villain to fight was, she would answer "Plasmus" without a second thought. The battles were frequent and overly messy, and she often wondered why Jump City did not seem to understand how to keep this guy captive. Whenever she mentioned this to Robin, he would mumble something about Plasmus being 'very hard to contain', to which Raven would respond "How hard is it to keep a man in a concrete box?" Robin never appreciated this statement, usually narrowing his eyes under his mask.

Today's battle was no different. For what was possibly the fifth time that month, the gelatinous man-beast had once again broken out of his prison. When the alarm had sounded, Raven had prayed to any listening gods that it would _please _not be Plasmus. Probably because of the fact that she was half demon and was technically Hell-spawn, anyone listening up above made sure that the exact opposite occurred.

The amount of biochemical waste being moved through Jump at any given time was something that worried Raven to an extent. The fact that Plasmus _feeds_ on the stuff is a good reason to reroute the waste trucks or at least move Plasmus somewhere else. But there seemed to be little logic involved in the keeping of villains in jail anyway.

So today, as Plasmus gorged himself on biochemical waste, the Titans were called to the scene. Performing their usual routine of distraction from Beast Boy and Starfire followed by the knock-out drill done by Robin and Cyborg with Raven's assistance towards the end. In the process of doing this, each of the five heroes was thoroughly coated in Plasmus's signature goo. This was Raven's least favorite part. Cyborg, fearing for the interior of the T-Car, would hose all of them off before they even got close to his precious vehicle. This was Raven's second least favorite part. Then, as was per usual, Beast Boy would transform into a dog and shake the water off, spraying Raven with more water and wet dog smell. This act completed the trifecta of awfulness that was fighting Plasmus.

Finally home in the tower, Raven immediately phased up into her room, having no patience for stairs or elevators. If she used said modes of transportation, it may involve having to converse with her teammates. And Raven was _not_ in the mood for conversation. Finally behind a locked door, she breathed a deep sigh of relief. What she needed was a bubble bath and a nice, long mediation session. Her thin lips quirked up at the thought of relaxing solitude. She undid her cloak, letting it slide to the floor. Next came the leotard; shimmying it off of her shoulders and down her small frame. Her boots had come off almost as soon as she had walked into her room. Standing nude in the middle of her room, Raven clutched her arms over her chest while she moved things aside with her powers to find her fluffy purple bathrobe. Cyborg had gotten it for her the Christmas before, and Raven actually loved it. Finding it in the third drawer of her dresser, she levitated it over and wrapped herself tightly in it. Collecting some candles from a chest, she took a deep breath and made the trek to the bathroom.

Raven's bathroom was technically a shared bathroom. With Beast Boy. She cringed at the thought as it entered her mind. Yes, she had been sharing it with him for three years now, but it was still something she constantly pestered Robin and Cyborg about. _When can we get our _own_ bathrooms_? Considering Cyborg didn't necessarily need a bathroom and Starfire and Robin weren't complaining, it was a complaint they generally ignored – much to Raven's dismay. Beast Boy didn't seem to care about it in the least. It had taken a good year and a half for Raven to scare the younger boy into keeping his things to _one_ side of the two sinks. It had been a whole new horrible experience when Beast Boy started shaving and Raven found little green hairs _everywhere_. But besides that, the boy kept to his own space and didn't touch her things. _Now if only I can get him to stay away from my room…_

The bathroom door was ajar, the inside dark. _Thank Azar,_ she thought. _Empty_. Closing the door behind her, Raven set the candles at various places around the bathroom, lit them, and turned off the lights. The little room was now mostly shadow, interspersed with flickering areas of candlelight. Smiling to herself and beginning to hum softly, Raven turned on the bath water. It was already warm, and she briefly thanked Cyborg for his marvelous upkeep of the water heater. She let the fluffy bathrobe fall to the floor.

The bathtub doubled as a shower, so on either side of the shower walls were two different shampoo holders. One held Raven's shower necessities, and the other housed Beast Boy's. Beast Boy really only had shampoo, conditioner, and soap, but Raven had a whole surplus of hygiene items. A lot of them were from a gift basket Starfire had gotten her after the Tameranian discovered the "wonderful world of wearable scents". Raven didn't really use any of them all that often, but when she reached for a certain bottle it was surprisingly almost empty. It was lavender bubble bath, and she tried to use it as sparingly as possible. She dreaded the day it ran out, as she would have to put it _on the shopping list_. Raven gritted her teeth, already hearing the teasing.

Since a fight with Plasmus was a special occasion to smell nice, Raven squirted a large dollop of soap into the water by the faucet. Almost immediately, large bubbles began to spring up, coating the surface of the water in frothy whiteness. Smiling slightly, she slowly stepped into the bathtub and sat, the bubbles first moving around her frame and then covering it. Raven let out a long breath through her nose and sunk further into the water, just her knees, arms, and head visible above the thick covering of bubbles.

The water was the perfect temperature, and the heat caused the lavender scent to intensify in the dimly lit room. Raven closed her eyes and allowed herself to fall into a semi-meditative state. Of course, she would need to fully meditate later in order to calm her powers. But the relaxation she was experiencing pushed her into the natural course her body followed when she was at her calmest.

The relative darkness of the bathroom and the warmth of the water lulled her into near-sleep. The lavender-scented bubbles brushed against her chin, nearly spilling over the edge of the tub. Raven was so relaxed in fact, that she didn't notice the knock on the door.

"Raven?" asked a still slightly-boyish voice through the door. "Are you in there?"

She found no reason to answer. Beast Boy would hopefully get the hint.

"Raeeeeee," he whined. Raven squeezed her eyes shut at the pitiful cry. She pulled her arms under the bubbles, and sunk down until her mouth was covered by them as well. She shouldn't tempt herself.

"I smell like chemicals!" he complained. "It's so much worse for me, 'cuz my nose is better than yours." Silence. "Are you even in there?" More silence. Raven hoped he had gone away. Then, the handle began to turn.

She had forgotten to lock the door.

Beast Boy pulled the door wide and stepped in, not noticing Raven right away. She stayed completely still, hoping against hope that he would just leave. Somehow, she knew he wouldn't. But she still stayed utterly silent, watching Beast Boy with wide violet eyes.

The green teen glanced around in confusion, his emerald eyes focusing on each of the candles. His nostrils flared suddenly, and his pupils dilated. It was always strange to Raven when Beast Boy's animal characteristics came out. He was still in his soggy, dirty uniform, which had ripped in a few places. He had removed his gloves, uncovering callused clover hands and fingers tipped in short claws. She noticed with slight amusement that his shoes were both untied, but he hadn't bothered to take them off. He was sniffing right now. She cringed into the bubbles, hoping he couldn't smell her over the overpowering scent of lavender.

Her hopes were dashed as Beast Boy slowly turned toward her.

The next few events happened in very quick succession. As soon as Beast Boy made eye contact with Raven, he yelped and turned into a turtle, clattering onto the ground. Raven's powers spiked, and a candle exploded violently, hot purple wax spraying across the mirror. And then the most awkward silence Raven had ever experienced began.

She was too shocked to do anything like sending him through the wall or to another dimension. Turtle Beast Boy had receded into his shell as soon as he had fit the ground. Raven could feel strong waves of fear, embarrassment, and regret coming off of him in waves. Another candle exploded.

In a flash, Beast Boy shifted into his normal form, hands over his eyes. "IDIDN'TSEEANYTHINGIDIDN'TSEEANYTHING!" he yelled. He nimbly leaped to his feet and threw himself toward the door, hands still over his eyes. Apparently, he had not realized that the bathroom door had slid shut. With a bang that probably could have cracked a less sturdy door, Beast Boy hit the surface and dropped heavily to the floor, out cold.

Raven sat completely still, thankful that the bubbles covered her naked body quite well. She briefly considered opening a portal that would drop Beast Boy off the roof, but immediately decided the poor teen didn't really deserve it. She probably should have informed him that she was in the bathroom. Or locked the door.

While she thought about what to do with the now possibly-injured super hero, the boy in question began to stir. His eyes remained shut, but he groaned and brought one hand to the growing lump on his green forehead.

"Wow, Cy," he mumbled. "That was a hard one. Maybe next time throw me at pillows…or somethin' softer than…that." Raven sighed. Great. He had probably given himself a concussion.

"Beast Boy," she snapped. His ears flicked, but he kept his hands over his face.

"Raven?" he croaked. She sighed.

"In the flesh," she deadpanned. Beast Boy rubbed his eyes and then opened them. His gaze was fixed firmly on the ceiling.

"Why am I in the bathroom?" he muttered, half to himself. Something must have clicked in his tiny brain, because the boy suddenly made a very un-manly squealing noise and struggled to get to his feet. He was failing miserably.

"Beast Boy," Raven repeated. He ignored her, hands clamped firmly over his eyes. His struggles were pitiful – the dizziness from his concussion, most likely. "Beast Boy, stop."

The green-skinned boy paused in his struggle, his chest heaving. "Raven, I promise I didn't see you naked," he blurted. Raven let out a long sigh through her nose. So much for relaxation.

"Beast Boy," she explained slowly, "if you had happened to catch me naked and uncovered, you wouldn't be here right now."

The teen gulped audibly. "Why am I on the floor?"

Raven tried to focus on anything but her injured teammate. "You saw me in here, screamed, turned into a turtle, turned back into yourself, and then ran into the door."

"I ran into the _door_?" Beast Boy moaned. "That's probably the least cool thing I have ever done."

"I can think of a few others," Raven grumbled. Her patience for the boy was swiftly running out. "These bubbles will dissipate in about five minutes. Considering you have probably given yourself a concussion, I wouldn't suggest moving for three. That leaves you two minutes to _get out_." She said the last few words through gritted teeth. Of course Beast Boy would ruin her bubble bath. It seemed to be his purpose: making her life miserable.

Beast Boy was quiet for a moment. And then, "I hate Plasmus."

Raven blinked. "Doesn't everyone?"

"Like, every single time we fight him I have a really awful day. First, Cyborg forgot to get soy milk from the store, so I ate my cereal _dry_. I mean, who would subject someone to _that_? And then Robin made me train solo because 'I've gotten lazy'. And right before that stupid alarm went off, I found Silky eating my favorite comic book!" He growled at the memory. "So, naturally, I gotta piss you off as well."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "You do that daily," she stated.

Once again, Beast Boy was silent. His fang jutted over his lip in an almost pouting fashion. Raven's bubble barrier was falling at an alarming rate.

"At least it smells nice in here," Beast Boy mumbled.

"You like lavender?" she asked politely. Oh, why hadn't she tossed him into the bay?

"Well, yeah." He raised one shoulder in a half shrug. It looked more like a twitch due to his position on the floor. "Smells like you."

A heavy blush descended on her features at his bluntness. Embarrassment radiated from Beast Boy again. Cue the second most awkward silence of Raven's life.

"Uh…that was kinda a weird thing to say, heh," he said intelligently. _Oh, Azar_…

Apparently, Beast Boy felt the need to recover from his awkward comment. "What I mean to say is…uh…not that you don't smell nice! I mean, everyone has a scent – but I'm not smelling you all the time or anything! I just…er…like your smell – not in a weird way! Ya know, like someone likes smelling cookies! Not that you smell like cookies! Or anything I want to –"

"Beast Boy," Raven growled. "Stop."

His ears had flattened back in helplessness. "My usual smoothness isn't here today," he apologized. Raven sighed for the umpteenth time and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"It never is," she hissed. "You should be able to stand. Can you please leave and let me have the rest of my bath in peace?"

"Uh, sure," he said. Slowly, he sat up and moved his knees under him. One hand was clamped firmly over his eyes, the other extended in front of him. He slowly and shakily made his way to his feet, palming the door for the knob. His fingers caught it, and pulled it just open enough to let his slim form through. Then he paused.

"You really do have a great scent. And I mean that in the least creepy way possible." Without waiting for her response, he shut the door behind him.

Raven sat in her now slightly lukewarm bath, watching the last bubbles dissipate and wishing the blush would leave her face. Oh, how she hated fighting Plasmus.


End file.
